Lawley Insurance has announced the hiring of three Chautauqua County residents as individual and senior health insurance benefits consultants.

Craig Colburn, AJ Dolce, and Ben Lindquist, all formerly of Arcade Senior Services in Jamestown, are licensed and certified insurance agents and brokers, authorized to advise and enroll in both the Medicare and New York State Individual Medical Marketplace. They will be based out of Lawleys Dunkirk office, but servicing Lawley’s entire footprint across New York state

This move means the agency can offer individuals aged 65-plus the benefits they need as they migrate into retirement and off of their employer’s health insurance. This is a new niche for Lawley that will round out their employee benefits offerings for individuals residing in New York state.

“This new team was put in place by Lawley to give the senior community and those closing in on retirement age the opportunity to equip themselves with health care coverage that fits their budget and provides proper benefits for their needs. Craig, AJ, and Ben will be able to offer advice and direction to help people make a well-informed choice regarding the future of their health insurance,” says Chuck Allesi, Partner of Lawley Employee Benefits.

Colburn was the Director of Individual and Senior Benefits at Arcade Senior Services. He is licensed and authorized to consult and enroll individuals in Medicare Advantage plans as well as supplemental insurance and prescription drug plans. Craig served as the broker of major medical plans with all carriers in New York State, as he is certified in the New York State Individual Exchange. At the Chautauqua County Chamber of Commerce, Craig was the director of member development. Craig managed six local Chautauqua Community Chambers of Commerce and their individual boards as well as being a general manager at Chautauqua Suites and Expo Center.

Dolce specializes in writing Individual Benefits, Medicare Advantage, Medicare Supplemental and Prescription Drug Plans. After serving as Councilman and Mayor in the City of Dunkirk for 12 years, A.J. returned to the classroom as an Adult Literacy Instructor for Erie 2 BOCES. He also started a consulting business where he was contracted to write grants for municipalities and non-profits, while at the same time also working with JAT Energy as their Regional Sales Manager.

Lindquist spent two years as the director of senior benefits at Arcade Senior Services in Jamestown. He was also the executive director at Chautauqua Striders Inc. for two years, a youth-based non-profit in Jamestown. Ben was the director and assistant director of athletics at Jamestown Community College in Olean and Jamestown for eight years. For six years, Ben was a professional baseball umpire in Minor League Baseball.

Lawley is a privately-owned, independent regional insurance firm specializing in property, casualty and personal insurance, employee benefits, and risk management consulting.

Headquartered in Buffalo, Lawley has branch offices across New York in Amherst, Batavia, Dunkirk, Mahopac, Plainview Long Island, Purchase and Rochester along with Darien, Connecticut and Florham Park, New Jersey.